Black Forest Games, the studio behind the Destroy All Humans! remakes, left Embracer Group-owned THQ Nordic through a management buyout. The German developer announced it will form Third Signal, a new group of independent studios focused on giving teams creative freedom and resources.
"We are grateful to THQ Nordic and Embracer for nine good years and the games we made together," co-boss Adrian Goersch said. "Now, we're excited to shape our own future as owners again, to work on an exciting new project with a great team and strong partners behind us."
Third Signal founder Andreas Tobler stated that smaller teams deliver quality work. "Some of the best games of the last decade came from teams of fifty, not five hundred," he said. "Black Forest Games is one of them, and the right studio to launch Third Signal. Our vision is to build a developer driven group and give teams the independence, resources and creative freedom to continue their creative legacy and bring their own ideas to life."
Black Forest spent nine years with THQ Nordic after joining in 2017. The studio released Destroy All Humans! in 2020 and Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed, along with entries in the Giana Sisters platformer series, survival game Fade to Silence, and Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back.
Black Forest's management will become co-owner of Third Signal while continuing to collaborate on game development with THQ Nordic.